Caspian snatched his wife around the waist and tackled her into the hold, yanking the door shut behind them just as something crashed into it.
With the breath knocked out of her, Naomi could only marvel at her husband's reflexes. She lay, stunned, on the floor for barely a moment before the sounds outside forced her to scramble wildly to the back of the hold behind some crates.
Adrenaline coursed through her, both sharpening her senses and terrifying her out of her wits. Where could she flee to? There was nowhere to go.
In silence she cowered, too frozen with fear to even cry. The half-glimpse she'd gotten of the monster pursuing her was more of a blackish blur than a clear mental picture.
Where was Caspian?
Biting her lip so hard she tasted blood, she managed to crouch forward just enough to see him securing the door into the hold as best he could, and pushing crates in the way to further slow down whatever might come.
How did he maintain the presence of mind for these things?
She felt completely crippled by fear and indecision. What should she do?
"Stay hidden, no matter what," Caspian answered her unspoken question.
She nodded in the darkness, although he had his back to her. The sounds on the other side of the door were terrifying. The storm came on so suddenly that it seemed to Naomi to have materialized out of thin air.
It was already dark in the hold, but somehow it was as if any remaining light were being sucked out by the storm. Naomi's mind was near panic at the similarities she felt to the Darkness, but logic fought back against it. The sounds of terror were overwhelming, and the Darkness was absolute in its silence.
Another roar like a desert lion shook the hold, and Naomi watched as Caspian drew a blade from his side and stood with his back to her, between her and the door.
Shouts from above told her the crew must be frantically defending themselves against whatever these beasts were. Caspian had told her they could fly, but she knew little beyond that.
....except that the door of the hold would not stay intact for long. Already boards were being ripped away, screeching in protest as they snapped. Another boom of thunder and simultaneous burst of lightning rushed through the cracks, illuminating Caspian's silhouette in sharp detail.
In an explosion of splinters, a form like a man with giant wings erupted through the final layer of wood separating the couple from the danger outside. Snarling like a rabid dog, the gargoyle knocked Caspian aside and rushed for Naomi faster than the strike of a sand viper.
She gasped in pain as its claws closed around her body. Long fangs and too-large eyes sparkled in dark glee as lightning let her discern the features of her captor. It was at least twice the size of a man, muscular and veined underneath skin the color of charred wood.
Its wings were thinly stretched skin like a bat's, but with pinions at the edges. Its human-like hands ended in long, sharp talons that were digging into Naomi's flesh.
A scream died in her throat, drowned out by the triumphant cackle that warbled from the creature's throat.
Though the hold was small, its muscular wings beat outward, and propelled the pair from the confined space with startling speed. Out into the storm they rushed, with the raindrops meeting them like a wall of water.
Or were the waves so large they were coming over the sides of the ship? It was impossible to tell for certain about her surroundings.
There were only two things for certain: the panic in her chest and the pain across her body. Could she fight back? Her arms were pinned in the creature's grasp; just one of its hands could completely encircle her.
It paused long enough to roar in what she could only guess was exaltation at its catch, waving her in the air like a rag doll. Her stomach heaved, though she had not recently eaten. The dark storm swirled around her as her mind nearly drowned with vertigo.
The gargoyle beat its wings, rising into the air, and passed her from its hand to be carried by one of its birdlike feet. It got only a few feet off the deck when it was knocked off of its intended course.
She thought perhaps another gargoyle intended to fight it for the meal she made, but the next flash of lightning revealed that a man had leapt up from the deck to grab the creature's other leg and stab at it with a knife.
Finally finding the fight inside her as she watched her husband dangle from the monster's claws, Naomi began to kick and flail. Twisting her neck, she found enough flexibility to attempt to bite the creature's leg.
Her teeth had no effect that she could tell, but Caspian's blade must have found its mark.
Enraged, the gargoyle roared and thrashed, forcibly hurling both people into the churning waves of the sea. Hitting the water, Naomi panicked completely.
She could not swim.
__________
Caspian did not know what madness drove him, he only knew he had to follow it to its end. Throwing himself upon the gargoyle had been foolish enough, but now he swirled in the waters of a dark green, stormy sea populated with creatures so terrifying that his own world couldn't begin to compare.
The water was icy, in utterly shocking contrast to the oppressively hot weather of less than an hour before. His body almost shut down, but through sheer force of will he made it begin to tread water.
Where had Naomi landed? He spotted her just as a wave overtook her, plunging her under the surface. With a deep breath he dove towards her, kicking and pushing against the treacherous swells.
He reached her and pulled her upwards until he tasted air, but her panic threatened to drown them both. Squeezing her against him tightly, he waited until she gave up struggling. She would be easier to tow as dead weight than as a panicked hindrance.
Now he had to get them somewhere. The ship was close; blessedly, the gargoyle had dropped them just off the bow. If he could manage to avoid being hit by the ship, he might find a rope to grab onto and have some prayer of being hauled aboard.
Strangely, a fishing net was being lowered off the near side. The broken, partial net that had been cut before. He didn't question the occurrence, but swam madly to position himself and Naomi in a path to grab hold of it.
It was a great risk; if it was thrown off the side completely to lighten the load of the ship, they could be caught in it and easily drown.
However, something in the back of his mind knew it was the best bet of being able to get back on the ship. Climbing the net would be something like climbing a rope ladder, if harder. As long as he was able to keep climbing above the water line, there was a chance of survival.
Another wave broke over his head from behind, temporarily plunging him and Naomi under its icy flood. It pushed them too close to the ship, and he had to spin and take the brunt of the collision against his back to protect Naomi.
It hurt, but somehow he glanced along the side instead of being taken underneath it entirely. That in itself was a miracle. He thanked whatever strange currents or beings were at work in the chaos, and realized the net was almost upon him.
He continued the monumental effort of treading water while keeping his wife's head above the surface as much as he could, and chanced reaching his other hand out to grab hold of the net as he pushed her to it as well. His shoulder almost separated at the joint as the ship rolled out of the water in the trough of an enormous swell.
He closed his eyes, the weight of his body pulling against his grip on the oily ropes of the net. Naomi struggled to hold on beside him.
Caspian gritted his teeth against the pain as another wave dashed the pair against the side of the ship. As his lungs met air again, another sound pierced the air, putting the gargoyles to shame.
Leviathan!
As soon as the thought entered his mind, desperation followed.
With the next wave, he chanced trying to leverage the reprieve from gravity's pull. Gaining height slowly as he encouraged Naomi to do the same, they were still nowhere near getting onto the deck when a streak of lightning illuminated a giant rope sailing from the bow of the ship.
Acting quickly, he pressed Naomi between his body and the net, entwining them both in its web. Just as he did so, the ship shot forward with a surge of speed. Leaving the world of pink sky and green sea behind, the boat rushed into a portal in leviathan's wake.